Lonely Wanderers and the Tales That Almost Were - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
The original Earendil was doomed to achieve a futile quest. By the time he reached Kor, the ancient city of the Elves in the West, Ingwe had already heard tidings of the fall of Gondolin and had led his people in a second rebellion to aid the Gnomes of the Great Lands (the world of Men, what in later versions of the mythology became Middle-earth). Ingwe died, and Earendil never delivered his message to the Valar. The whole career of Earendil is tinged with an Odyssean futility, but Odysseus, at least, got to kill Penelope's suitors in the end.
Had Tolkien devoted some time to updating the voyages of Earendil, we might have learned the fate of Tuor and Idril. In Letter 153, written to Peter Hastings in September 1954 (after The Lord of the Rings had begun publication, but before The Return of the King was released), Tolkien noted that "Tuor weds Idril the daughter of Turgon King of Gondolin; and 'it is supposed' (not stated) that he as an unique exception receives the Elvish limited 'immortality': an exception either way."
In the original tales, Tuor leaves the Great Lands by himself, in a ship with purple sails, and Idril awakening too late sees him set off into the distance. She sings a song of lament by the shores of the Sea. Earendil tries to console her, but eventually she sets sail on her own and vanishes. Years later, when Earendil is wandering through the Shadowy Seas amid the Enchanted Isles, one of his companions, Littleheart, son of Voronwe (yes, the Voronwe who led Tuor to Gondolin), rings a gong while they are on or near an isle upon which is set a Tower of Pearl. The sleeper in the tower awakens, and in one version of the story it turns out to be Idril.
In a more updated version of the story, Tuor and Idril would undoubtedly set sail together. But bereft of the Silmaril, and having not the power of Earendil's Doom to guide them, they might become lost in the Shadowy Seas. They might find the Tower of Pearl, or build it, and there lay themselves to sleep until such time as someone comes to awaken them. Earendil and his mortal companions would thus find the island one day, ring the gong, and awaken his parents. But they would have to remain behind, trapped, until the Valar released them from their enchanted prison. Or else Earendil would not realize he had awakened them, and they would have to be abandoned by their son, watching his sails recede into the distance.
Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
The copyright of the article Lonely Wanderers and the Tales That Almost Were - Page 4 in J.R.R. Tolkien is owned by Michael Martinez. Permission to republish Lonely Wanderers and the Tales That Almost Were - Page 4 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
